Napolitano was a U.S. attorney in Phoenix, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, when the Justice Department decided against prosecuting Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain's wife, Cindy, for stealing prescription drugs from her medical charity.

Cindy McCain went public in 1994 about her prescription drug addiction, admitting she stole medicine from the charity several times between 1990 and 1992. A doctor wrote prescriptions at her direction for medical missions around the world, and she sometimes increased the amounts, keeping some for herself. The Justice Department decided against prosecuting her after she agreed to undergo drug treatment. She said in 1994 that she had kicked her addiction.

Napolitano spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer said Thursday that Napolitano was acting U.S. attorney at the time and recused herself from the Cindy McCain matter because Napolitano was awaiting Senate confirmation.

"The governor was interim U.S. attorney. She did have responsibilities of the office but was waiting confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Because McCain would ultimately vote on her nomination and this involved a senator's wife, she was in her words, 'walled off' from this case," L'Ecuyer said.

While at a Phoenix law firm in 1991, Napolitano was part of the legal team representing Anita Hill, a former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission colleague of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas who accused Thomas of sexual harassment. Hill's accusations jeopardized but ultimately failed to derail Thomas' Senate confirmation.

Napolitano's representation of Hill became an issue in 1993 when the Senate considered Clinton's nomination of Napolitano for the U.S. attorney's job. Napolitano refused to answer questions about a private conversation with one of Hill's witnesses, Susan Hoerchner. At issue was whether Napolitano persuaded Hoerchner, Hill's corroborating witness, to change her testimony.

Hoerchner initially told the Senate Judiciary Committee during its Thomas hearings that Hill had told her in the early 1980s that she had been sexually harassed by Thomas. After Napolitano requested and had a private conversation with her, Hoerchner told the committee she wasn't certain of the date Hill told her about the alleged harassment. Napolitano said she couldn't answer questions about the talk because Hoerchner wouldn't waive her right to confidentiality.

Some Republicans accused Napolitano of stonewalling the committee and contended it could cause a dangerous precedent if the panel confirmed a nominee without having all the information it needed. Democrats defended her, saying Napolitano wanted to be forthcoming but couldn't due to attorney-client privilege.

Some senators said at the time that Hoerchner had admitted before talking with Napolitano that she was just guessing about the date Hill first said she'd been harassed by Thomas. A book published after the Thomas hearings said the date Hoerchner guessed, September 1981, was before Hill went to work for Thomas.

In a case that made headlines in Arizona, Napolitano represented a Democratic state senator in a political corruption scandal known as "AZScam." Undercover officers posed as gaming industry lobbyists and gave bribes to several legislators in a 1991 sting. The lawmaker Napolitano represented, Alan Stephens, wasn't charged criminally and was dropped from a racketeering lawsuit after a judge found there was insufficient evidence against him. Stephens later served as Napolitano's co-chief of staff in the governor's office.